Do You Want to Kill Children?

IGN writes:

It is wrong to kill people.
It is wrong to kill children.
It is ok to kill pretend people.
It is wrong to kill pretend children.

I agree with the above set of statements and I believe it's a majority view. I greatly enjoy murdering enemies in shooting games. In Call of Duty multiplayer mode, there are few things I relish more than shooting my brother between the eyes, or cutting my teenage son's throat as he sneaks up the stairs of a mock suburban home.
(3DS, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty, Industry, Nintendo DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii U, Xbox 360)

What? Wait a minute....... so killing children is frowned upon nowadays!?!?

Oh wait, we were talking about in-game fictional kids.

Yeah, those you can kill as far as I'm concerned.

I remember having a discussion about the topic of videogame-violence in the office a few years ago when I was working for a gaming-magazine. Pretty much everyone there seemed to agree that in-game violence isn't that big a deal.

However, when I noted that in Vietnam-shooters, if you wanted a bit more realisme, you should also have children working for the vietcong, and thus you as the player should be able to shoot them.

Somehow, for many in the office, that was a no-no. They said they were OK with in-game violence. they also said they liked how videogames were dealing with realistic and mature settings conflicts, yet killing polygon children just seemed out of the question.

I never understood such flawed logic. Either you want your games to be 'mature' and uncensored, just like other media like books and movies, or you don't.

The same goes for GTA4 btw. You have a complete city to terrorize, yet somehow it's completely void of children or disabled people. Why!? It's not realistic.

I hate censorship. I hate self-censorship. We should just give freedom and let the gamer decide what to dow ith those freedoms granted.

If you have a vietcong kid shooting at you, you should be allowed to shoot back. If you drive through a park in GTA4, there should be all kinds of people. Not just the normal middle-aged men and women that Rockstar deem fit to crush under your carwheels.

Why the recent self-censorship in Battlefield 3? How is that 'mature'!? It's not. It's the exact opposite of mature. A movie wouldn't shy away from that issue. Neither would a movie.

Still going to buy Battlefield 3 obviously, but I just hate the self-censorship.

Agree with yi-long, it's stupid to make a difference, even in real life it's stupid to accept death of adults, and not child, or worst, dogs (like uneducated americans seems to do), humans are humans, and it's not acceptable to kill them.....video games are video games, and you can do everything.

@rabidpancakeburglar: I get the sarcasum, but I think they are refering to in games.

I have no need to kill kids in my games. There are things I do in games that I will never do in real life. Killing kids is one of those things I would not do, not even in a game. If that is tha only way to continue, then that game just ended for me.

When they're games like Elder Scrolls or Fallout then yeah you should be able to, it's a tough topic to go about but I don't see how killing older people in those games is differen't from killing children/teenagers....if it was a baby then fair enough that would be going to far.

The only reason why they don't is because a news show would have a fun day reporting on it. If someone like WBTV make a big fuss over the Portal 2 adopted thing imagine if they would out children were killable in games.

Children are viewed as innocent. They are guiltless, crime-less, sinless, etc. Even children who are bratty or commit crimes are believed to be not responsible for their actions because their pre-frontal cortices are not fully developed.

Killing innocent civilians is rarely the main objective in video games. It makes sense that harming/killing children would not be allowed at all.

There have been some cases where a minor who has committed a particularly heinous crime is tried as an adult and subject to harsher penalties for their actions.

As for killing children in video games, if you play A Boy and his Blob, or any other game where you play as a child, and die on purpose technically that game features children being killed, and most of them are rated E.

I remember when I found out you couldn't kill them in Fallout 3 in little lamp light when you meet Mayor Macreedy for the first time and he says "Watch it Mungo or I'll blow your f*cking head off"...I was like "How dare he speak to me like that, think your funny kid" <runs up to Mcreedy and fires shotgun at face>...........and he lives

The argument is you can kill people in a game but when it comes to children like in Fallout 3 it's a big no no...your still killing someone at the end of the day

What about people who played GTA VC or SA and went on a killing spree choping peoples heads off with a katana or ripping someone to shreds with a chainsaw...should they get their head examined or is it just a gamer messing around of a video game.

It's like a killing spree on GTA is fine but killing one annoying kid is totaly wrong....I don't get that

Murder is still murder despite what age you are, plus it's a video game

The only reason developers don't allow it because it would cause controversy.

@Cpt_kitten...wow we are quite presumptuous aren't we? First, we rid society of all of the drug addicts...as if when they tried drugs they intended to become addicts. Is this just illicit drugs like cocaine (i.e. what most rich adults in the 80's were stuck on) or over-the-counter (on the rise in high schools all over America)? Then, we can kill the "horrible" people??? Horrible to whom? What makes them so horrible? See, it's not that I don't get your overriding point. Because I truly do. However, the "savage" nature that you speak of is being acted out in a GAME. This is NOT real! Maybe...just maybe...the vicarious nature of this violence provides a cathartic release so that one doesn't actually take a club to the next jerk that he or she encounters? Just some food for thought...not picking an internet beef!

lol soo hypocritical,you really need to grow up and open up more to life more,life isn't so simple to just murder everyone who is hooked on drugs or any thing else for that matter they are still human no matter how you put it and you shouldn't just sentence people to death like that so easily.

"its one thing killing someone who is a horrible person were not savages or else we would still be living in caves beating everything with a club"

I don't even know what you are even saying here,seems to me you are saying if we didn't kill bad people we would be living in caves.

wow why is this even being talked about if you don't know the difference between reality and fiction right from wrong then you need you need help. Some games even tell you what is right and wrong with a karma system like fallout and who can't say they haven't once thought of doing something wrong but you always remember that it wouldn't be right or that you would know the consequences of your actions. everybody has their own idea on what is right and what is wrong.

If you take the Moral stand point. No, you won't agree with killing children even if it is only a video game.

If you take the Maturity stand point. Yes, its okay since its only a video game not real life.

Both have valid arguments and quite frankly both stands are right.

This will just end up as a case of "responsibility" since we don't want people to misunderstand that gaming allows the practice of killing innocents nor do we want young gamers to think this is acceptable in real life.

@tiffac008 -I disagree. The 'Morality' point, eh, you'd be against any kind of murder, then. Adult, elder, child, teen. It shouldn't matter, regardles. It's wrong to kill people. And, if that's the route you wanna take; you shouldn't play these games anyway.

And, the last part, well .. that's a parent's job, for the kids who play these games. They could easily watch movies or read books, that paint a more vicious picture.

Yeah but again its not in real life its in a game. You cannot put a real life action and compare it to a virtual reality world.

Not because you play violent games that doesn't mean you are violent in real life.

That's why its a maturity stand point since a mature and well minded person can differentiate.

And on your points about the parents. Yes they are the focal point of responsibility but in this world where we are connected even more by social media it will be up to every individual to be responsible on what they say or promote online. Everyone can make a difference.

Well that's my last bubble bro you can have the final say. +1 bubble for you for being civil in the discussion which is sometimes rare here. Kudos~

psychopaths for killing virtual kids ? well then arnt we all psychopaths for killing virtual adults then? there just fake people..i wouldnt want to gun down a day care or any thing even in a game but i wouldnt mind haveing some sort of plot in a game involving kids that get killing in a village that got raided or some thing all for the plot/storie..kids get killed in movies and books all the time why is it so wrong in a video game.

Having kids probably makes it a little harder to stomach, but it does absolutely nothing whatsoever to make your point of "killing kids in games is wrong" argument any more credible.

Actually having kids has absolutely nothing to do with the morality of virtual murder. I'm sure there's plenty of instances where someone who actually had a loved one die in a war (fps games) or a love one die in a drive by shooting (gta/saints row), but someone being saddened/offended by such a hurtful event doesn't make that event any more or less immoral. You probably kill civilians in gta by running them over, so is it now all of a sudden considered "crossing the line" because someone else has lost a loved one in a car accident/hit and run?

No, it's not. Someone responding to your comment could say "I'm guessing many people who said they are fine with running people over in video games haven't lost a loved one to a hit and run or a drunk driving accident". Don't be a hypocrite. I'm not saying you should start embracing the idea of killing children in video games, but I suggest you at least stick to your own logic.

I can easily grab a gun in game and shoot whatever. I could NEVER do the same in real life, That just isn't me at all. And this is simply because I understand the difference between the virtual world and the real world.

I know it's not real even though it tries to mimic real life. I you aren't capable of doing the same then you shouldn't be playing video games.

Shooting virtual babies is no different than shooting virtual grownups. It's as if grown ups don't matter in that aspect then. Double standards xD

Personally I think if you enjoy watching a child die and blood gush out of his body you have a problem... Even if it is not real. But I don't like killing random people in gta either. I just hate playing the bad guy i guess.